Larsson, Håkan

Abstract [en]

This paper explores socially shared knowledge of facilitating play in a learning institution such as a school-age childcare setting (services provided for children outside school hours, often while parents are at work). Previous research makes it clear that the area of play facilitation needs further exploration. It points to a tension between children's agency in play and the constraints of the setting. The pedagogical traditions of Froebel and Dewey have been used to explore the options for action in this field of tension. Staff from four school-age childcare settings – three Swedish and one English – took part in focus groups. The transcriptions of the spoken dialogue were categorised using dialogic analysis. The paper presents samples of conversations highlighting the above tensions and analyses them in the light of the theory. The findings show that staff negotiated these tensions daily and that the developed model can be used to reflect on the intentions and approaches of a service that only partly facilitates play. The conclusion is that the ability of staff to interpret children's play as children exploring their agency is crucial when facilitating play in a learning institution.